Shingling-gage.



M. J. LEONARD.

SHINGUNG GAGE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY3. 1915.

1,192,651. Patented July 25,1916.

Z i a real 2 "TT i/ f-PiJ g 1 H Rummage ml.- "cums l zrzns m. Moran/m1 mmuvcmn. p.41

lid

MICHAEL J". LEONARD, 0F SGRANTON,PENNSYLVANIA.

SI-IINGLING-GAGE.

specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 25, 1916.

Application filed July 3, 1915. Serial No. 38,015.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MICHAEL J. LEONARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Scranton, in the county of Lackawanna and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shingling-Gages; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will on able others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to gages such as are adapted for use in laying shingles, slate, clapboards, and the like; and the object of the same is to produce a gage which is foldable so that it can be packed into small compass and whose members are adjustably con nected so that the shingles or other articles may be laid with the desired portion thereof exposed to the weather. These and other objects are carried out by the gage hereinafter described in detail and shown in the drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is aplan view of one embodiment of this idea, showing the several members expanded over a roof whereon several rows of shingles have already been laid. and another is about to be laid with the butts of the shingles against the straight edge illus trated. Fig. 2 is a side view of this embodiment of my invention with the fold-able members turned back out of the way, and the main or supporting member mounted in an upright position so that it may be used for laying clapboards, and this view shows an extension whose use is hereinafter described. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the foldable members viewed from the underside to show its clip and foot. Fig. l is a plan view of another embodiment of my invention showing a different means for adjusting parts of each foldable member, the uppermost part of the upper member being turned aside to show its foot.

In the drawings the letter R designates roof boards and S shingles being laid thereon.

The letter C designates clapboards or weather boards such as are nailed to the up right siding of a house. I

The letter B designates a beam of 2"x4 lumber such as is usually nailed to the eaves of a roof or the sill of a house, and upward from which the shingles or clapboards respectively are laid. As this gage is capable of use interchangeably, I will refer here in'after only to shingles excepting when I describe clapboards especially.

Coming now to the present invention, the numeral 1 designates a rest of L-shaped cross section adapted to be placed over the upper outer corner of the beam B and attached thereto temporarily as by nails N or otherwise, and the numeral 2 designates a clip secured to the outer side of this rest and carrying a set screw 3.

The numeral t designates a main or supporting member whose body is bent into two angles 5 and 6 producing respectively an upper part 7 and a lower part 8 which latter passes through the clip and under the set screw and is marked on its upper side with graduations 9. The numeral 10 designates an extension bar similarly graduated on its upper face, and the upper end of this bar and lower end of the lower part 8 of the main member are provided with interengaging notches 11 so that they may be lapped and held together as shown at 12 for the purpose of extending the lower part 8 downward for one or two courses as described below; yet when the screws 12 are removed the extension can be laid alongside this member and packed within small compass. I might here say that when this device is used for laying clapboards (or shingles) on an upright side wall as seen in Fig. 2, the foldable members yet to be described are either turned back out of the way or disconnected and laid aside. The rest is attached to the beam, the lower part 8 of the member 4: passed through the clip and a proper graduation set alongside said clip, and the set screw 3 tightened up. At the upper end of the upper part 7 of this member is a foot 17 which at that time, will bear against the siding. Two or more of these devices are attached to the beam B, according to the length of the wall, and a straight edge 15 is laid along on the various feet 17, and then the clapboards or shingles are brought into place, resting on this straight edge, and nailed to the siding as usual. For laying the next course the set screw is loosened and the lower part 8 with its extension attached is run up through the clip 2 for as many inches as it is desired to leave the boards or shingles exposed to the weather, which can be readily ascertained by means of the graduations 9; after which the set screw is tightened up, the straight edge put in place, and the next course applied. In this way my device is used for several courses, the positive connection of the member 4: with the beam by means of the clip and rest holding the gage upright'with its foot against the upper course just laid, so that the straight edge cannot fall down behind said foot accidentally; and then the beam is moved upward for several courses, and the operation repeated. Thus it will be seen that when employed on an upright wall the foldable links of this gage are not used, whereas when employed on a roof they are extremely useful as will be seen below, and I therefore have called this device a shingling gage.

Above the main member a are a number of foldable and adjustable members, one of which his best seen in detail in Fig. 3. Each comprisesa lower part 28 bent at a right angle at its upper end into a horizontal arm 24: through which passes a set screw 23, and

an upper part 27 underlying said arm parallel with the lower part and passing through a clip 22 carried below the arm beneath the tip of the set screw. Thisupper part is straight, and beneath its upper end it has a foot 17 duplicating that already described. On its upper side are graduations 9 duplicating those on the lower part 8 of the main member. Transversely through the lower part 28 near its lower end passes a bolt 20, the same passing also transversely through the upper part 7 of the main member as seen in Fig. 1, and held removably in place by thumb nut 21. Each foldable member is a duplicate of what has just been described, and the lower part of one member is connected to the upper part of another by a similar bolt 20 with or without its thumb nut, although these bolts pivotally connect the respective parts wherever they are used. By preference I dispose the arms 24: of the several members to the right and to the left alternately as seen in Fig. 1, and the clip is so set on each arm that there is sufficient space between the upper and lower parts'of any member for the pivoted Jart of the next member to swin thus facilitating the folding of the entire gage.

In the use of this device as a shingling gage, the beam B is nailed upon the first row of shingles which has been applied to the roof boardsR at the cave line, and the next row of shingles laid by use of the straight edge in the manner already de scribed, the folding members being at this time turned back out of the way. The straight edge is then lifted out of place, the lower folding member turned upward until its foot rests on the shingles just applied, the straightedge put back in position, and the next row of shingles laid in the same manner. This process is repeated for three or four rows of shingles, and finally the set screw 3 can be loosened and the entire device moved upward through the clip 2 so that the foot on the uppermost member raises the straight edge far enough to lay an additional row or perhaps two additional rows of shingles, the extension being used if necessary. Throughout all this use of the device, the various set screws and clips are serviceable with the graduations 9 for laying just as much of each shingle to the weather as is desired. Doubtless a uniform standard will be maintained over the entire roof although possibly when approaching the ridge pole the workman may have to lay the last few rows to a little different gage in order to come out even. useful on the folding members as well as on the main member, for holding their bodies up 0d the shingles already laid and for preventing the straight edge from slipping down behind them. This straight edge may be anything that is desired, but by preferonce it is a small piece of L-iron sufficiently rigid to permit the operator to lay straight rows, and one straight edge will be used with two or perhaps more of these gages in a manner well understood and not necessary to illustrate on the drawings.-

In the embodiment of my invention shown in Fig. a, the same main member and its supporting means may be employed, and the folding members will be made in parts and have the same right angular arms 24 on their lower parts and feet 17 on their upper parts. But the means of adjustment between said parts will be slightly different. Here I pierce the arm with a round hole, and in the arm I mount a set screw 33 whose tip intersects said hole. The upper part at its lower end has a reduced and rounded extension 34 passing through said hole and marked with graduations at 9 as above described, the shoulder 35 between this extension and the body of the upper part 37 contacting with the arm when the member is adjusted to its shortest length which would be the minimum gage permissible with this device. To increase this gage the set screw is loosened and the upper part 3'? moved upward with respect to the lower part 38,

the extension 34L sliding within the hole until the proper graduation has been reached,

and then the set screw is tightened up. The use of this embodiment of my invention is the same, but it possesses the additional possibility that any part may be rotated with respect to the part next below by loosening the set screw and turning its extension within the hole, and obviously the parts can be entirely disconnected by drawing the extension out of the hole the same as theparts in the other embodiment couldv be disconnected by drawing the lower part 28 out of the clip. Reversing one of the parts 37 brings its foot 17 uppermost as may be sometimes desirable, especially where the gage adopted is such or the conditions of The feet are extremely the roof are such that the operator would rather the member should lie flat on the row of shingles just laid. Here again, however, I find that the use of the lateral arms 24: is advantageous when the members are folded back as already described.

All parts of this device are by preference made of metal and their size is sufficient to give the gage proper strength while not so large that it will be unwieldy and heavy. Vihile I have suggested the use of an L-iron straight edge as shown at 15, it is quite possible that the workman may employ for this member some stout piece of lumber which is not warped, for if the straight edge is to be considered a member of the gage itself, it would have to be made in sections to render it portable and even then it would doubtless be too long for the workman to carry in his tool kit. When he is thus transporting the remainder of the device, it may be well for him to remove the thumb nut 21 and bolt 20 so as to entirely disconnect the main member and its rest from the set of folding members, and when the device is used for laying clapboards the folding members may also be omitted.

What I claim is:

1. In a gage of the class described, the combination with a rest, a clip thereon, and a set screw through the clip; of a member bent in two right angles to form an upper part having a foot below its upper end and a lower part passing through said clip and provided with graduation marks, its lower end being notched, an extension member having its upper end notched to complement said notched lower end, the extension being also graduated, and means for detachably connecting the notched ends.

2. In a gage of the class described, the combination with a rest, a clip thereon, and a set screw through the clip; of a main member having a double angle in its body with its lower part passing through said clip, a series of other members each made in two parts adjustable with relation to each other, and a detachable pivotal connection between the lower part of each member and the upper part of the member below.

3. In a gage of the class described, the combination with a rest, a clip thereon, and a set screw through the clip; of a main memher having a double angle in its body with its lower part passing through said clip, a series of other members each made in two parts adjustable with relation to each other, the lower part of each member lying alongside the upper part of the member below, a bolt passing removably through the lapping parts, and a thumb nut on said bolt.

4. In a gage of the class described, the combination with a main member, a rest, and means for adj ustably mounting the main member in the rest; of a series of additional members whereof each is composed of a lower part pivoted alongside the upper part of the member next below it and having a right angular arm, an upper part parallel with the lower portion of the lower part, said arm having an opening through which said upper part is adjustably mounted at a distance from said lower portion suiiicient to permit the next member to swing therethrough, and a set screw through said arm against the upper part for the purpose set forth.

5. In a gage of the class described, the combination with a main member having a foot beneath its upper end, a rest, and means for adjustably mounting the main member in the rest; of a series of additional members whereof each is composed of a lower part pivoted alongside the upper part of the member below and having its upper end bent aside into a right angular arm, an upper part parallel with the lower portion of the lower part and having a foot beneath its upper end, and means for adjustably attaching the upper part to said arm at a distance from said lower portion suflicient to permit the next member to swing therethrough.

6. In a gage of the class described, the combination with a main member having a foot beneath its upper end, a rest, and means for adjustably mounting the main member in the rest; of a series of additional members whereof each is composed of a lower part pivoted alongside the upper part of the member below and having its upper end bent aside into a right. angular arm, an upper part parallel with the lower portion of the lower part and having a foot beneath its upper end, a clip carried beneath said arm and through which said upper part is slidably mounted at a distance from said lower portion sufficient to permit the next member to swing therethrough, and a set screw through said arm against the upper part for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MICHAEL J. LEONARD.

Witnesses:

W. W. BAYLOR, L. P. WEDEMAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

7 Washington, D. G. 

